CTCMath {Review}

CTCMath Changed My Thoughts About Online Math Curriculum

It is such a privilege to be on The Old Schoolhouse Review Team and be selected to review such awesome curriculum. I was so excited about being selected to review the Homeschool Membership by CTCMath. It has ultimately changed how I view online math courses. Thanks CTCMath!

CONFESSION TIME – before I was given the opportunity to review CTCMath I was a little ambivalent about an online math curriculum. We are very much a hands-on, crafty sorta bunch here in the Our Thrifty Home household, so I thought that math needed to be the same way. Pencil ~ Paper ~ Manipulatives ~ Etc. The thought of doing math online seemed preposterous to me.

Boy was I wrong. Silly me!
I have finally found a Math curriculum that works, is fun to do, and brings smiles instead of dread. Yes, okay – okay, I might be referring a bit to this Mom on the dread part!

You see, math has NEVER been my strong suit. It seems to be the subject we all struggle with the most in our homeschool. I am very well aware that the problem starts with me. It is very hard to teach something with confidence that you are uncomfortable with yourself.

CTCMath = Confidence for both the child and the parent.

What is CTC Math?

CTCMath is an online (internet) based math curriculum that you can access by paid subscription on different devices (pc, tablet, etc.) for grades K-12. (I believe that the lessons for high school are more supplemental lessons to use in addition with a separate high school math curriculum)

Each lesson starts off with a video for the students to watch that gives detailed instruction and how to solve a problem. Each video is less than 10 minutes. The student can repeat the video as many times as needed to comprehend the lesson.

After the video there are questions for the student to answer to measure their understanding of the concept being taught. The program automatically stores the students score.You have the ability to repeat the lessons or skip ahead lessons if the student has already mastered that concept.
Example: Your child can work on one concept at a 4th grade level while working on another concept at the 5th grade level.
There are awards given when you pass levels. Giving your child a sense of accomplishment.

*Side Note: Each student can customize their own dashboard. You can see in the pictures above that we have one child that picked pink.

They have provided diagnostic tests for each student to take, if you wish. (they are not mandatory) You can use these diagnostic tests to best suit your needs. You can administer the diagnostics to evaluate which level your child needs to start in or administer the diagnostic after a lesson has been introduced to see how well your child comprehended the lesson. Your choice. I love that!

The Parents Dashboard gives detailed reports on your student’s progress. You can let your student continue with each lesson at their own pace or you can set the tasks you want your child to complete in the “tasks” section. Basically like setting up a lesson plan. You can have control over their lessons by guiding them to which lessons you expect them to finish or you can let the progression of lessons go naturally according to the students pace.

CTCMath was created by an Australian company so the audio in the video lessons are in an Australian accent. This is very charming to listen to.

What We Received & How We Are Using It

We received a one year subscription for up to 10 students. We are using this subscription for 3. This gives us access to ALL lessons in ALL grade levels.

I think we will be replacing our current math curriculum this year with CTCMath. The kids are really enjoying it and seem to be comprehending it better than the current workbook curriculum they have been using. I have one child who really struggles in math. That child has come to me just about every day and asked if they can go on CTCMath. This is a child who does not like doing math because they have a harder time comprehending it. I am now seeing that it may just be how the concepts have been presented in the past curriculum that has held them back. They truly enjoy watching the short videos and answering the related questions. They definitely seem to be grasping concepts more. A win-win for sure!

Because it’s the summer time (during the review time) I am allowing the kids to do lessons in whichever order they choose. As the new school year approaches I will be setting up “tasks” in the parents dashboard. These are similar to lesson plans. You set up what you want or expect your child to work on in a tasks section and when they log on to do their work they can see what lessons you have planned for them to do. You can also choose not to set up tasks if you don’t want to. The choice is yours. There is so much flexibility with this program.

I enjoy going into the Parents Dashboard and viewing the progress of each child. The reports show how much they comprehended during each of the lessons. This allows me to see where they are advancing and where they may be struggling. If I see that they are having a hard time comprehending a specific concept I plan on supplementing with worksheets on that concept for extra reinforcement and practice. You can print worksheets on the concept they are working on. The reports are easy to read, easy to understand, and I can print out achievement rewards given after certain lessons/concepts are mastered. This is great for portfolio purposes.

You can also edit what the students passing grade could be. Example: if you prefer for the passing grade to be 85% – you can set it (under student profile) that any score under an 85% is not a passing grade. You can also edit each lessons score. If you feel the student needs to go back and revisit a concept to get a better understanding you can reset the initial score so that the new score can be kept for recording purposes. This is a great feature.

My Final Thoughts!

I wished I had started CTCMath sooner in our homeschool. It’s very user friendly, and the kids are loving it.
When you have a child who otherwise despises math asking if they can go on the computer to do their math lessons and stays on for an hour or more and says “I love this!” It makes a Momma’s heart happy.
The lessons are on the shorter side which holds the child’s attention and are very thoroughly explained. I am very much a “teaching” kind of mom but I do appreciate the independent learning this program provides.

CTCMath is NOT Common Core aligned.

We are excited to continue the use of CTCMath. It has changed how we do math in our homeschool.

How about you? Are you looking for a change in your math program? Looking for an independent approach to math?

If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, give CTCMath a try.

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**The opinions expressed on this blog are solely the opinions of the creator and writer. Please remember what opinions are!
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Hebrews 13:5

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